One of the extraordinary things about Ledbury is the high regard it is held in by local people.  In our Perceptions of Ledbury research, 85% of people said they were proud of their town while a similar number had good words to say about and would ‘want to go back if it were someone else’s High Street’.  ‘Vibrant, unique, welcoming, attractive’ were the words that cropped up again and again.

The positive descriptions came from across the age and social spectrum – whether pro-superstore people or not.  People love Ledbury.

Do people want things changed?  The only consistent issue to come up as a problem is parking - about a third of people want improvements in this area. Other issues emerged in small clusters on the wishlist like an improved market, more budget shops, and finishing the Masters House/Library project. But overall, the consensus is that there’s not a lot wrong with the town just the way it is.

Choice and competition are cited as reasons for an out of town superstore by Sainsbury’s spin doctors.  It’s bad news for them.  Nearly 80% of people say that Ledbury has a wide range of shops and facilities, and in relation to the town’s size is extremely well served.  “I think it has something of everything, not always a huge range, but you can pretty much buy anything in Ledbury”, said one respondent. The one big lack, cited by 25%, is the availability of cheap children’s clothes – a great opportunity for an enterprising market stall operator.

Download and read the full report.